[OSList] The Open Agile Adoption story
Daniel Mezick
dan at newtechusa.net
Tue Aug 20 06:02:21 PDT 2013
Hi Christine,
Thank you for your kind note. I love your story of French Open Space!
I am very encouraged by your narrative of Orange Business Services in
France. Let us gather these stories from throughout the world, and
socialize them, celebrate them, and publicize them without delay.
With that in mind, I would love to share this very French story of
Orange Business Services at the Scrum Gathering keynote in Paris. Do you
think Rafael can be contacted to share some pictures of these events,
and the wider narrative? If he allows, I am happy to share this story.
Will you contact him and explore the idea?
In the USA there have been some reports of uses of Open Space here and
there. However there is no known body of knowledge or known A-B-C
procedure for applying Open Space to the work of adopting Agile. And so
in Paris I plan to enumerate Steps which I know to work, from some
experience.
The spirit in most workplaces is quite dead. Open Space can help it come
alive. I think that in Agile adoptions, the **mandate** of practices
promotes a kind of down-spirit, while the act of **invitation** lifts
the spirit.
I think that THIS is what we might need to communicate: that
**invitation** is the name of the new game. And also that Open Space is
where leaders can learn how **invitation** can generate much better
results through much more engagement. And how Open Space helps let this
happen...
Open Agile Adoption and Liminality
The hypothesis is that Agile creates an endless flow of destabilizing
liminality, complete with large and ongoing feelings of fear, worry, and
triggering anxiety. Everyone involved (leaders, managers, workers)
experience this triggering anxiety together. And not just when Agile is
1st introduced. Genuine Agile produces a huge amount of continuous
learning & therefore continuous change.
A core hypothesis of Open Agile Adoption is that continuous learning
creates continuous liminality.
If this is true, then we already know what to do: we must borrow the
concept of the passage rite from cultural anthropology, and put it to
work. This is a core idea found in the Open Agile Adoption technique.
References:
On Liminality: http://newtechusa.net/agile/liminality/
On Passage Rites: http://newtechusa.net/agile/on-passage-rites/
On Invitation: http://newtechusa.net/agile/people-then-practices/
The Game
The goal:
To transform the world of work. In a big way. Beyond software!
To get rid of "down-spirit" and encourage "up-spirit."
We often call this state of being "genuine engagement at work."
The best strategy for playing that I can think of now, goes like this:
1/ Use Open Space to address the absolutely huge opening of opportunity
presented by failed Agile adoptions.
2/ Demonstrate an absolutely dramatic improvement in Agile adoption
results, when and where Open Space is utilized
3/ Notice that about 40% of the people attending Open Space meetings in
Agile adoptions are people from the business side who do connect in some
way with Information Tech.
Now, these business people are THE BRIDGE into the wider system of the
business organization. So if we do an amazing job of improving Agile
adoptions, we may then be invited to come and play bigger. And well
beyond software. I have some experience with this already!
So the 1st step is to make a very big impact inside the IT/Agile
adoption space. Then, onward from there. Agile adoptions represent the
biggest opening of opportunity, now.
What We Might Do Next
We do have a very tough road ahead of us. The emerging approach to
create a genuine movement toward widespread use of Open Space inside
Agile adoptions seems to have these elements:
1/ Gather Stories: Gather stories from throughout the world about the
use of Open Space to assist success in Agile adoptions
2/ Tell Stories: Tell these existing stories in specific places where
Agile people gather (online venues and conference events)
3/ Provide Tools: Provide the tools now, that people need to do this
themselves (A-B-C guidance and access to skilled Facilitation)
4/ Celebrate Results: Publicize (by being wise in the leveraged use of
social media)
5/ Release It: Help it happen and then Let-It-Happen, without trying too
hard
Whew, this got kind of long. Thanks again for your note! And
Kind Regards,
Dan
On 8/20/13 6:07 AM, christine koehler wrote:
> Hi Dan
>
> Congratulations for your lovely buddha grand-daughter !
>
> Thank you for your story. As a French Open Space practitioner who
> heard for so many years that French and Open Space were not made to
> get together, I am always happy to hear exactely opposite stories ;-)
> Today as Michael Pannwitz says, we are the most fast growing community
> in the Open Space World.
>
> Now I can tell you the story of Open Space and Agile in France..
> Indeed it's an old love story :
>
> In 2004, a small and diverse group of people launched the Open Space
> Institute of France. One of them was an engineer, and had already
> adopted agility : Raphael Pierquin. So, the first Open Space event in
> the IT community in France was held for Orange Business Services, a
> subsidiary of our historical telecommunication corporation France
> Telecom, after Raphael introduced there Agility. This happened in
> 2005 I think.
> Since that he organizes each year the Agile Open gathering using Open
> Space and the software company he co-founded is run with Open Space
> principles.
> When in 2009 I co-organized with Luc Bizeul the first European Open
> Space on Open Space, half of the participants were agile folks.
>
> My guess is that this explains why the core members of the French
> Agile community are quite familiar with Open Space and that you got
> retweeted from over here :-).
>
> These days as I personaly want to understand more about agility, but
> if possible concretely and not from books (and also not from software
> development as I am not a tech lady), I joined a group of a dozen
> Agile people who are wondering why agile principles don't go further
> and transform organizations : they/we form the Stoos movement. One of
> the organizer of your French training on OpenAgileAdoption after the
> Scrum gathering in Paris is Oana Juncu, who belongs to this group. We
> live in a small world.
>
> I'd be happy to connect the Agile/Scrum/OpenSpace communities from
> France and abroad on Sunday, sept 22, just before the Scrum Gathering
> starts.
> Invitation is on its way, and it looks I need to find a bigger place
> already.. Thank you Suzanne for encouraging me to do that.
> I'll post more details soon.
>
> Hope to meet you there
>
> Christine
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 6:38 PM, Daniel Mezick <dan at newtechusa.net
> <mailto:dan at newtechusa.net>> wrote:
>
> Good morning OST-List!
>
> I am Daniel Mezick, probably someone you never heard of.
>
>
> I'm an executive & Agile coach that seeks (and occasionally
> obtains) work in that section of the USA between NYC and Boston. I
> live in CT. I have a story to tell you...and an invitation...
>
>
> Open and Agile
>
> ...about 4 years ago I start experimenting with Open Space, using
> it inside public www.AgileBoston.org <http://www.AgileBoston.org>
> conference events. I study OST more. In 2010 we at Agile Boston
> innovate by getting the 80-page proceeding from a large public OST
> event rendered to a PDF and shipped to all participants in less
> than 24 hours. (We employ a rapid transcription service to render
> the per-session outputs to text and images, then create a WORD doc
> and PDF.)
>
> I actually did not know what the hell I was doing. I just knew it
> was a generally good idea to socialize Open Space in Boston.
>
> Little do I know...
>
> In late 2010, by Googling around I discover the free-download PDF
> of the SPIRIT book by HO. Reading that changes everything for me.
> I realize that OST is really about development and transformation
> in organizations, NOT simply for public conferences and general
> education. (This is how the "Agile community" currently uses Open
> Space.)
>
> As a consultant to organizations, I realize that the SPIRIT book
> for some reason is completely overlooked by the Agile community,
> and that this book had the seeds of success in it. The "secret
> sauce". I begin experimenting with bringing Open Space meetings
> into my Agile coaching engagements. The basic hypothesis is that
> the introduction of change (Agile in this case) creates alarming
> levels of anxiety and worry. And, that Open Space might actually
> help reduce worry and fear.
>
> From late 2010 to the present day, I begin experimenting with
> using Open Space in service to rapid and lasting Agile adoptions.
> By diving into this work with willing clients, I begin to realize
> the power of Open Space... with them. We find that we can reduce
> the anxiety of change via the power and mystery of "invitation." I
> begin to study and build upon work from Ed Seykota ("testing for
> willingness"), Michael Herman ("invitation"), Harrison Owen (the
> SPIRIT book), others.
>
> In 2011 I do a few more experiments and begin pulling ideas from
> cultural anthropology (Victor Turner), from positive psychology
> (Tony Hsieh's application of Martin Seligman's work) and from the
> art and science of game design (Jane McGonigal).
>
> In 2012 I write THE CULTURE GAME (www.TheCultureGame.com
> <http://www.TheCultureGame.com>), a book about how to help your
> organization get smarter. At this point I have worked with OST in
> more than a few organizations. In that book I write a chapter,
> chapter 21, and give it the title "Open The Space". That chapter
> contains several "easter eggs" which a few astute readers find and
> begin using. I start to get emails from around the world about
> that chapter. In that chapter I reference many of Harrison's
> works, I disclose some of the Open Agile Adoption technique.In
> that chapter, I specifically provide the link to the SPIRIT book.
>
> By late 2012, I have confirmation of several hypotheses. The first
> is that without engagement, we have nothing. That seems very
> obvious, yet the current Agile literature has little or nothing to
> say about the role of engagement in effective Agile adoptions.
> Second is that there is no engagement without /psychological
> safety/ sufficient /_to_/ engage. Third, safety (and a general
> sense of well-being) is a largely a function of creating an
> "inviting structure". By structure I mean: a clear goal, or
> purpose...and a clear set of rules...and a great, always-on
> feedback system and the big one..."opt-in participation".
>
> I started ranting on Twitter and on my blog about how "mandated
> collaboration" in Agile adoptions is at best misguided. How
> mandated practices may be...harmful. Remember by this point I have
> my experience and case data. I am speaking from some experience.
>
> At first, no one seemed to hear me. But after a while, I start
> getting ReTweets a lot. And people started talking back to me from
> around the world and there is conversation. Questions. Insights. I
> start connecting with all kinds of people around this idea. Some
> of the ReTweets are from people with French names who Tweet in
> French AND English.
>
>
> So here I am with this more-than-pretty-good technique that
> incorporates Open Space. And I am kind of feeding out provocative
> questions about Agile coaching, and talking a lot about
> invitation, and about the futility of mandates...I also make some
> radical assertions. This goes on for a while.
>
> Then I got this interesting invitation.
>
> It's an invite to come and /keynote/ the Global ScrumGathering in
> Paris France in September of 2013. The invite is from some of
> those French people who ReTweet my Tweets. They tell me I can talk
> about absolutely anything I deem important, and ask me to "come
> and play" with them.
>
> It takes me about 2 minutes to make up my mind. As soon as this
> happens, I know it is one of these providential-type events that
> becomes a defining moment. I gather up all my notes and start
> crafting the speech. I also immediately contact Harrison Owen, and
> bring all my work and notes up to his place in Camden to talk, and
> explain OAA with Open Space to him, and seek his guidance. That
> was back in early July.
>
> And so: here we are. I'm going over there to Paris to talk about
> Open Agile Adoption with Open Space to six hundred Agile and Scrum
> practitioners. Many of them are coaches. The OAA technique
> incorporates OST, storytelling, play, and some ancient and proven
> tribal patterns for managing change, specifically the /rite of
> passage/ pattern.
>
> There is a list of links at the bottom of this note, so you can
> get a sense of what I am presenting. Over July and August I am
> planning to explain the whole technique to you and everyone else,
> holding back the case data and the toolkit until 9/24 in Paris,
> when I deliver the actual speech. On that day, the toolkit and all
> the tools become free to the world via an open source license and
> a free download. The intent is to provide a body of work that
> others can immediately use and more importantly, improve upon.
>
> We know that people are only 25 or 30 percent engaged at work.
> (see related link below.) Open Space is a profoundly useful way to
> double or even triple engagement from there. The hypothesis of
> Open Agile Adoption is that /a safe space is required for true
> group learning/ to take root. And that Open Space is the primary
> tool for constructing that kind of place.
>
> The keynote address is designed to resonate before and after the
> event. Before the event, INFOQ.com is publishing articles, videos
> and interviews on Open Agile Adoption. During the event, the
> speech will be transcribed, videotaped and recorded by the Scrum
> Alliance. After the event these Scrum Alliance artifacts will be
> available to anyone in the world via the Scrum Alliance. Also
> after the event I plan to make the case data and Open Agile
> Adoption toolkit free to the world, such that anyone with "a good
> head and a good heart" can do it and do it well.
>
> I'm taking a page from Harrison's playbook, and from his ethos,
> choosing to make the entire body of know-how free to the world.
> I'm hoping that Open Agile Adoption (and derivatives) become the
> standard for implementing more rapid and lasting Agile adoptions...
>
> ...Not everyone is likely to be happy if this comes true. The Open
> Space element has the potential to radically reduce the amount of
> Agile coaching that is actually needed to get a rapid and lasting
> Agile adoption. That reduces billable hours!
>
> Further (and of far more interest to you) is the idea that skilled
> OST Facilitators are required to execute well with the Open Agile
> Adoption technique. This has the potential to open up new demand
> for those here with deep OST skills and experience.
>
> There is clear potential for a certain "changing of the guard" in
> Agile adoptions worldwide. There is potential for disruption...and
> maybe a little bit of chaos.
>
> After the Paris Scrum Gathering, I plan to offer short, plain-talk
> seminars in how to do Open Agile Adoption. I do not plan to teach
> Open Space facilitation in detail, because others in this
> community are already doing this very well, and also because there
> is more to Open Agile Adoption that just Open Space. There are
> elements of storytelling, elements of a passage rite, elements of
> gaming, play and more. I plan to teach the overall OAA technique
> to people who want to learn it. In France in September, I am
> teaching two ½ day seminars on 9/26 and 9/28 after the Scrum
> Gathering. When I return I plan to continue teaching in the United
> States.
>
> I am asking for help. Will you help me socialize the idea that
> Open Space is essential for creating rapid and lasting Agile
> adoptions?
>
> You can help in the following ways:
>
> 0/ Be playful, and help me refine and improve Open Agile Adoption
> with others
>
> 1/ Learn more about OAA via the provided links below. Then, ask me
> questions.
>
> 2/ Tell me if you offer Open Space training courses, and send me
> your info, so I can promote your course to Open Agile Adoption
> practitioners. If you are a Facilitator for hire, I want to talk
> to you!
>
> 3/ Examine the work, and provide feedback as I disclose it over
> the next month.
>
> 4/ Sign up for the Facebook group Open Agile Adoption via this
> link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/204037609756665/
>
> 5/ Help me get in front of Agile audiences to the extent you can.
> This year I am speaking on Open Agile Adoption with Open Space at
> these events (in date order):
>
> 8/7/13: session, Agile2013
>
> 9/24/13: keynote, Global Scrum Gathering, Paris
>
> 11/6/13: keynote, Agile Tour, Quebec City Quebec CA
>
> I hope you like this story,
>
> and I hope you want it to continue,
>
> and I hope want to help write it.
>
> I am inviting you to come and do that. Will you join me with
> others in writing the next chapter of the Open Agile Adoption story?
>
>
> I hope you will consider doing exactly that.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Daniel Mezick
>
> www.DanielMezick.com <http://www.DanielMezick.com>
>
> dan at newtechusa.net <mailto:dan at newtechusa.net>
>
> 203 915 7248
>
> Related Links:
>
> GALLUP Link on (dis) engagement
>
> /$350 billion per year in lost productivity./
>
> http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/247/the-high-cost-of-disengaged-employees.aspx
>
> SPIRIT Link (Harrison Owen book)
>
> http://www.openspaceworld.com/Spirit.pdf
>
> Open Agile Adoption Link
>
> www.OpenAgileAdoption.com <http://www.OpenAgileAdoption.com>
>
> Mandated Collaboration Link
>
> http://newtechusa.net/agile/the-recipe-for-botched-agile-adoptions/
>
> Scrum Gathering Link (click 'keynotes' and then click "right arrow"...
>
> http://www.scrumalliance.org/courses-events/events/global-gatherings/2013/paris-2013
>
> Agile2013 Link
>
> http://www.agilequebec.ca/nouvelles/agile-tour-2013-keynote/
>
> Agile Tour Quebec City keynote Link
>
> http://www.agilequebec.ca/nouvelles/agile-tour-2013-keynote/
>
> Open Agile Adoption Group on Facebook
>
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/204037609756665/
>
>
> --
>
> Daniel Mezick, President
>
> New Technology Solutions Inc.
>
> (203) 915 7248 (cell)
>
> Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
> <http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
> <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
>
> Examine my new book:The Culture Game
> <http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for
> the Agile Manager.
>
> Explore Agile Team Training
> <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and
> Coaching. <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
>
> Explore the Agile Boston
> <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.
>
>
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>
>
> --
>
> Christine Koehler, créatrice d'espace de Dialogue et de Coopération
> Executive Coach, Médiateur
> www.christine-koehler.fr <http://www.christine-koehler.fr/>
> Tel : 06 13 28 71 38
> Fax : 09 72 32 36 65
> New ! Formation 20/06/2013 De l'évènement au Processus
> <http://christine-koehler.fr/2013/formation-de-levenement-au-processus-avril-2013/>
>
>
>
>
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--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching.
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.
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